Gary's Dangerous Thinking
by DeathGoblin
Summary: One day, Gary's train of thought brings him dangerously close to discovering a deep secret about the pokemon world.


Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon or have any rights to it.

This is just an odd oneshot idea I had.

* * *

With his grandfather retired, Gary had been left in charge of managing the lab. It had been a few months since the young Oak had taken on this responsibility and he had now developed a well-rehearsed routine.

After getting up and briefly checking his mail he would make his rounds to ensure that all the Pokémon were okay. His first patch of free time came around noon when he would have lunch while listening to the latest news in various areas of research. One of his favorite podcasts was hosted by Fennel and was based around dream research.

"Hello Umbreon," he said before sitting down with a plate full of food. The dark-type Pokémon would often sit with him and listen as he played the podcast over the speaker system in the living room. Gary was unsure of how much Umbreon understood, but it was clear that he had some understanding of what they were talking about.

Fennel's voice appeared over the speakers as the podcast began. Apparently she'd discovered in her research that Munna and Musharna had the ability to harness a particular kind of energy produced in dream, dubbed Dream Energy, and that they could share this energy with other Pokémon for a currently unknown purpose.

Gary noticed Umbreon's ears perk up at this discovery. _He really can understand this._ He observed that Umbreon was now listening more intently than ever. _This Dream Energy thing must have him interested._ Making a mental note to talk to him about it later, Gary turned his attention back to the podcast.

Fennel had finished her initial explanation of dream energy and had moved on to something else she'd found. After secretly monitoring her Musharna, she'd found that it often released stored dream energy, and that it appeared to disappear entirely. On top of that, collaborative research with Professor Rowan in Sinnoh had shown signs of this same energy seeping out of Mt. Coronet as well as it being present in Lake Verity, Valor and Acuity.

The podcast concluded and now Gary was scratching his chin. As usual, he had been too engrossed to finish eating and now he'd lost his appetite. Looking over, he noticed Umbreon shifting nervously. "Is something wrong Umbreon?" After placing his partially full plate on a nearby counter he retuned to the couch to pet his Pokémon. Umbreon was now doing his best to conceal his nervousness. "Come on Umbreon, you can tell me if something's bothering you."

The dark-type shook his head and gave Gary the most convincing smile he could muster. Then he looked over at Gary's plate. Fortunately, his trainer took the hint and scratched his ears affectionately before going to resume his lunch. While he was occupied, Umbreon snuck out into the yard.

* * *

It had rained the previous day and it didn't take long for him to find what he was looking for, a puddle, hidden away amongst the trees. After briefly looking around he began talking into the puddle. _"Giratina! Are you there?"_

It took a few minutes, but eventually, the legendary dragon's face appeared in the puddle. _"Hello little one,"_ it said. _"I almost never get called by anyone aside from Arceus. Tell me, why do you want to speak with me?"_

"_Sir, the humans are starting to discover dream energy! I was listening to the news with my trainer and this researcher from Unova said she discovered it. She also said that they detected some around Mt. Coronet. They might eventually discover its connection to the distortion world!"_

The dragon's eyes narrowed, and he was clearly taken aback by this. _"I will have to take with master Arceus about this. Thank you for telling me this. Be sure to keep an eye on your trainer. We wouldn't want him making unwanted connections."_

"Understood," replied Umbreon before saluting Giratina with one of his ears. The dragon's face disappeared from the puddle.

Umbreon found Gary finishing his lunch. He looked disappointed and had just finished listening to another podcast. "There you are Umbreon," he said, smiling. "Looks like another rocket failed to breach the atmosphere. Raquaza wouldn't let it happen."

Umbreon recounted, with a mental sigh of relief, the last time Raquaza had stopped an unmanned rocket that was intended for the moon.

"There's one thing that doesn't add up," said Gary, and Umbreon sensed that he wouldn't like this line of conversation. "We've sent satellites orbit before and Rayquaza leaves those alone. Why does it target our rockets? They both use the same propulsion system, is it just coincidence?"

Umbreon shrugged, wanting desperately to prevent Gary from pursuing this further. He began making noises to tell Gary that Rayquaza's motives would always be mysterious. With a shrug and a frustrated sigh, Gary decided to resume his duties.

"Guess we'll never know how Rayquaza works. Perhaps it's not even sentient. I mean we don't have any recorded evidence of communication with it." He walked out the back door and into the yard with Umbreon in tow. The midday sun was beginning to dry things up.

"Hello Professor Oak," came the voice of a young trainer who had been waiting for him outside. "I just came here to visit my Rhyhorn."

Gary smiled. "That's great, I'll take you right to her." They walked through the still slightly damp field towards a more rocky area at the research center's southern edge. The Rhyorn was grazing on some hardy shrugs along with others of her kind. There were also several Geodude lying still on the ground, soaking in the sun's warm rays. Now doubt, yesterday's rain had been very unpleasant for the rock types.

"Hey Rhyorn," called the young trainer, catching the attention of her Pokémon, who bounded over to him. Gary watched the interaction with a smile, but then a word popped into his head. He'd heard it before several times before, but now something about it seemed to click.

"Rhino," he whispered. The young trainer paid no attention to this, but both the Rhyhorn, and Umbreon took note of it. Gary felt the urge to delve into this new mystery and left the trainer with his Pokémon, telling him to come back to the lab if he needed anything. Umbreon followed closely.

When he got home, Gary immediately went to his room and pulled out his own pokedex and began looking up various entries. One was Pikachu, indentified as a "mouse" Pokémon, and another as Goldeen, the "goldfish" Pokémon. "Goldfish," "mouse," "rhino," "bat," "fish," "bug," "bird." Gary repeated these words several times, hoping a that definition would come to him, but all he could recall were these words being used to refer to Pokémon.

All this time, Umbreon was starting to sweat. However, what Gary said next put him more on edge. "Hey Umbreon, I was just thinking. If Arceus created the universe, and if Arceus is a Pokémon, then why do humans exist? Are we a type of Pokémon too?"

Tilting his head, sideways, Umbreon looked at Gary as if he were crazy. The young professor shrugged, and decided to return to his work. "Probably just over thinking this," he mumbled to himself, though Umbreon felt relieved when he overheard it.

* * *

A few days had passed since Gary's musings. Fennel hadn't produced another podcasts on dream research and the young professor seemed to have fallen back into routine. However he had noted that Umbreon now appeared to be watching him closely. _Perhaps he senses something about me that I can't detect._

At the end of a hard day of work, Gary returned all the Pokémon to their balls and settled down with Umbreon to watch the news. The image of a damaged submarine floating to the surface caught his attention as he was flipping through channels.

The news reporter was in a helicopter looking down on a ship that was salvaging the submersible. _"Just days after the lunar explorer met its end by Rayquaza, the unmanned submersible sent to explore the underground ruins located in the middle of the ocean met a similar fate. This time the culprit is believed to be Lugia. The legendary Pokémon appears to have claimed these ruins as its territory, effectively making them off limits to exploration."_

Gary seemed somewhat annoyed by this, while Umbreon had a feeling that he was in for something he didn't like. "Of all the places Lugia could've chosen why'd it have to pick that one? First Rayquaza and now Lugia, if only we could make them understand that we're just pursuing truth."

He turned to Umbreon for a reply, but the dark-type just shrugged. He had no intention of being dragged back into this line of conversation.

Cupping his chin, Gary began frowning. "Perhaps they do understand," this made Umbreon sweat again. "Maybe they just don't want us to find certain things out or go to those places." Try as he might, he couldn't justify them. "The crafts were all unmanned, no lives where in danger, and there were no toxic chemicals on board. Why won't they let us pass? What don't they want us to know?"

Soon he began thinking about different theories, of what might be found on the moon or in the deep ocean ruins. Then he felt a sharp pain as Umbreon bit into his arm. "What's wrong with you?" He shook the dark-type off, perhaps a little harshly.

Umbreon did his best to look like he was worried about Gary. His trainer soon caught on, and gave him an apologetic look, before rubbing his head affectionately. "I'm sorry Umbreon. Guess I've been over thinking this again."

* * *

When his trainer was asleep, Umbreon snuck off to the lake where many wild water types were sleeping. He founded a secluded spot and called to Giratina again. The dragon appeared within moments. _"We saw the news,"_ he said worriedly. _"My trainer has started making dangerous connections again. He thinks that Lugia and Raquaza might have been protecting a secret."_

"_How unfortunate,"_ replied Giratina. _"Your trainer is too smart for his own good. We'll have to curb his thinking a little. If there are any psychic types nearby, you can ask them to help out. Tell them it's a direct order from me."_

"_What did master Arceus have to say about this?"_

"_He said that no human must be allowed to find out where we came from or why we're here. He also said we must use whatever means necessary to keep the great purge a secret from them."_

Umbreon nodded before saluting the legendary dragon. The conversation ended and the next night, Umbreon waited until Gary fell asleep. He had a companion with him, a Munna that Ash had recently caught in Unova. When they were sure the professor would not wake up, Muuna began her work. From that day forward, Gary dropped his dangerous line of thinking, never to resume it again.

* * *

This was just a skeletal idea I had to I don't have plans to expand on it.


End file.
